


I Think I Kinda Fell For You

by BriMarie



Category: High School Musical: The Musical: The Series (TV)
Genre: Angst, Best Friends, Childhood Friends, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Smut, Fluff fest, Friends to Lovers, Nini Salazar roberts - Freeform, Slow Burn, Smut, Unrealized Feelings, high school musical the musical the series - Freeform, hsmtmts, rickini, ricky bowen - Freeform, rini - Freeform, rini is endgame
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-05-10
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:53:39
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,873
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24104716
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BriMarie/pseuds/BriMarie
Summary: Ricky and Nini met in kindergarten, and have been best friends since. What they couldn't have predicted is that somewhere along the line, they would fall in love.(Basically them throughout the years up until they were a couple).*Rini fluff/smut*Setting: Salt Lake City in various years
Relationships: Ricky Bowen & Nini Salazar-Roberts, Ricky Bowen/Nini Salazar-Roberts
Comments: 7
Kudos: 61





	I Think I Kinda Fell For You

_Kindergarten 2008_

Nina Salazar-Roberts actually was pretty unique for a girl her age. 

Despite the popular belief at her elementary school, girls and boys can be friends. Many of the girls in her class say that boys have cooties, but she knew it was nonsense. She equally played with both genders in perfect harmony despite the other kids thinking it was weird.

One day, she was playing with the other girls in the sandbox with their Barbie's until a huge red dodge ball hits her smack in the back of her head. She immediately began screaming from the throbbing pain at the back of her neck and looked around for the culprit.

She turned and saw a brunette boy with dark brown eyes running up to her with a worrisome face.

"Are you okay Nina?" One of the girls at the sandbox asked. Nina shrugged.

"I don't know. It hurts a lot. Somebody call Ms. Matthews!"

The girl did as she was told and ran to her teacher. The boy crouched down beside her and rested a caring hand on her shoulder. "I'm so sorry! Are you okay? Please don't tell; I didn't mean it!" The boy pleaded. Nina was too fed up to feel like forgiving him at the moment.

"You should watch where you're throwing that ball mister!" She shoved his hand off of her and pushed him to the ground. The boy was taken aback by her action, and other kids crowded around them either gasping in shock or saying oooo.

"What was that for?!" The boy yelled.

"For not watching where you're going doo doo head!" Nina yelled.

Before the fight could go on, Ms. Matthews appeared in between them before they could do any more damage to each other. "Hey! What's going on here?" She asked angrily.

"He started it!" Nina yelled.

"Nuh uh, she pushed me for no reason! I was just trying to apologize!" He said with a lisp.

"Well you shouldn't have hit me with a ball!" Nina yelled back.

"That's enough you two! Both of you need to go to the principals office, but first Nina I'm taking you to the nurse." 

Ms. Matthews took both of their hands and guided them to the building as other kids on the playground either pointed at them or giggled behind their backs. Nina gave him a death glare. "You're dead kid." She mouthed to him. He responded by sticking out his tongue. 

Nina came back to the front of the principals office with only an ice pack for her neck. When she saw the boy who had gotten her in this mess in the first place, she glared at him. He saw her in the corner of his eye and gave her a nervous look.

She angrily sat one seat away from him, which is the farthest she could get from him since there were only 3 seats. She crossed her arms and looked straight ahead. She could almost feel his eyes on her, and it was really starting to anger her. When she decided that enough was enough, she twisted her body to face him.

"Oh my god, just take a picture it'll last longer!" She yelled.

He looked away embarrassed and nervously played with his fingers. "I'm sorry it's just...I wanna apologize for hitting you that's all." He said so quietly it came off as a whisper. She began to let her guard down when she saw how nervous and genuine he was being. She sighed and calmed down.

"It's okay. I'm sorry for pushing you and calling you a doo doo head and saying you're dead."

He looked up at her and gave her a small grin. "It's okay I deserved it. I did after all hit you with my ball." She giggled and scooted one chair over to be closer to him. 

"My name is Nina Salazar-Roberts. What's your name?" She said holding out her hand.

He grabbed it and shook it loosely. "I'm Richard Bowen. It's nice to meet you Nin-, Neen-, Nini." He stuttered.

She looked at him weird. "No, my name is Nina silly." He blushed from embarrassment.

"Sorry, I have a bad lisp with words with 'a' in it."

"That's okay! I actually kinda like the name Nini. I think I wanna be called that now! Oo I should make a nickname for you now! How about...Ricky?!"

He smiled and nodded his head. "I like it!" 

When their parents came to pick them up, they weren't expecting the two kids to be playing on the floor with his action figures and her Barbie's in harmony. Lynne and Carol stared at their kids in awe.

"Well it looks like they aren't mad at each other anymore." Carol said looking at Lynne.

Lynne laughed and nodded in agreement. "Yeah, it seems so. Hi, my name is Lynne Bowen. I'm Richard Bowen's mother." She said reaching out her hand.

Carol took it. "I'm Carol Salazar-Roberts; Nina's mom. I feel like our kids are gonna be very good friends."

"Maybe we should exchange numbers so they can go on more play dates." Lynne suggested.

"You know what? That sounds like a plan. How about Friday night at 7?" Carol asked.

"It's a date." Lynne said with a bright smile.

The kids were having so much fun, it took them a while to realize that their mothers were even there. Nini saw them first and began waving.

"Hi momma C! I have a new friend. His name is Ricky! Can he come over sometime mom pleeaasseee?!" She asked while begging on her knees.

"Of course baby. Now come on, the school wanted you out for the rest of the day due to your little incident."

Nini sighed and waved Ricky goodbye. "Bye Ricky, we can play house tomorrow at recess."

Ricky smiled. "Sounds good!" He said waving as he watched his new best friend walk away with her mom. 

They've been inseparable since.

***

_Third Grade 2011_

Ricky never understood why people made such a big deal about his best friend being a girl.

Just because they were different genders didn't mean they had to be enemies. It's not like girls had cooties or anything. He was getting real sick of the boys at his skate park making fun of their relationship all of the time.

At the moment, he was strapping up all of his safety pads to prepare to practice some moves for the upcoming skate competition before he headed to Nini's for a play date. Today they were gonna start to practice playing the guitar and ukulele. They had gotten the idea after watching a few episodes of Victorious and Austin and Ally (their fav musical shows that he secretly enjoyed).

One of his skate bro's nicknamed Spike and another one named Kevin plopped on both sides of him with smug looks on their faces. Ricky looked at them skeptical of their motives. "What's up with you two?" The guys just chuckled and shrugged as if they didn't know what he was talking about.

"Not sure what you're talking about Bowen. Oh except the fact that you totally have a thing for that little girlfriend of yours that you're always hanging around." Spike said.

Ricky blushed and made a puking face. "Oh geez, guys stop! You're gonna make me throw up!" 

"Oh please, don't try to deny it. Why else would you be friends with a girl unless you like like her? Girls totally have cooties!" Kevin said.

Ricky rolled his eyes. "For the love of god, girls don't have cooties. Seriously where did that come from? Plus, just cuz she's my best friend doesn't mean we like like each other okay?"

The guys rolled their eyes. "Yeah sure man." Kevin said. Spike looked over his shoulder and smirked. "Speaking of the devil. Your girlfriend is approaching us." Spike said. Ricky ignored the use of the word girlfriend and looked to see if they were kidding or not. They indeed were correct. He saw her coming with a large bag; she began smiling when she noticed he was looking at her.

"Hi Ricky! I brought you something." She yelled from the distance. He heard a few other skaters laugh including the two beside him as she walked towards them. He blushed and scratched his head awkwardly. She was so oblivious to the guys around her somehow due to her tunnel vision for him.

"I'll leave you two lovebirds to talk." Spike said as he and Kevin walked away. Nini took a seat beside him and gave him a quick hug before doing anything else. He quickly gave her one back since he knew the guys were watching and would for sure make fun of him later. "Hey Nini, why're you here? I was gonna meet you at your house at 5."

"Yeah I know, but I was bored and missed you a lot since I haven't seen you as much due to this skating thing. I just wanted to know what could possibly be so interesting that my best friend would give it more attention over me."

He sighed and grabbed her hand. "Sorry it's been taking up so much of my time. I just really want to be good at it so I can do really good in the finals next spring. I promise we'll practice later okay?" She smiled and gave him a light kiss on the cheek. She had never done that before, so he was thrown off. 

He rubbed the area she had kissed making sure what he just witnessed actually happened. "I brought us some snacks for when you're done with practice that we can eat on the way back home."

"You plan on staying for my whole practice? Nini, you don't have to do that."

She waved him off. "Don't be silly bubby! Anytime spent with you is worth it. I'll just listen to musicals as you practice."

He smiled and blushed at the sound of their secret nickname for each other. The nickname had become an inside joke for them after Ricky horribly mispronounced the word bubblegum due to his lisp back in 1st grade and has been an ongoing gag since.

"Okay, I'll talk to you later then." Ricky said. They shared one last swift hug before he ran down to where the other skaters were. He saw all of their faces and knew exactly what was to come. "Nini and Ricky sitting in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" The skaters began to chant. Ricky groaned and put his hands on his ears as he slowly felt blood rush to his face.

He was already ready for practice to be over so he can relax with his favorite person. An hour later, he and Nini had rode off with her riding a bike and him a skateboard to her house. They had eaten some of the candy she brought and talked about their days as they approached her house.

They always did this after school since they lived so close to the elementary school. He never told anyone before, but he always looked forward to this part of his day. She was the only friend that's known him since kindergarten and the easiest one to talk to about anything especially more touchy topics like family drama unlike his male friends.

When they got to her house, they briefly greeted her moms and ran up to her room to begin practice. They realized they enjoyed it a lot and continued to pursue this hobby. They had been getting pretty good over time. Ricky was a fast learner when it came to sports and playing instruments more than Nini had been. She had always envied that part of him, but also respected it.

Ricky had basically learned how to play the guitar perfectly and had shown Nini how to play some. She had become more of a ukulele fan, but still every once in a while would play the guitar. Suddenly, these practices became a common thing after school when they could over the months.

Nini and Ricky have also discovered they both actually had pretty good singing voices. She tried to get him to join the Peter Pan musical where she was playing a tree. He declined claiming musicals weren't his style.

(She still secretly thinks he wanted to)

***

_Sixth Grade 2014_

Nini felt like an outsider.

All of her female friends had gotten their first kisses except for her. Ashlyn apparently was kissed by some band geek over at summer camp a few months ago. Kourtney, her female best friend that she met in 4th grade, had her first kiss during truth or dare at her other friends house. Gina has her first kiss at her dancing academy when her and some guy had kissed just to see what it was like.

"Nini when was your first kiss?" Gina asked.

All the other girls looked at her waiting for her response. She blushed in embarrassment. "Uh well you see, I actually have never been kissed." Nini confessed.

The other girls gasped dramatically. "Nini, what do you mean? We're 11 now! We're practically adults! How have you not found someone to kiss yet?" Ashlyn asked.

Nini shrugged. "I don't know! Nobody's ever wanted to kiss me before!"

Kourtney smirked. "I have an idea of someone who probably would do it if you asked nicely." She said smugly. The other girls smirked along with her when they realized who she was referring to.

"Really who?" Nini asked totally oblivious to who they were talking about.

"Ricky!" Kourtney said.

Nini made a disgusted face and blushed the color of a tomato. "Are you kidding me?! He's my best friend! I don't think of him that way!" She said shaking the thought of them kissing out of her head.

The other girls laughed at her reaction. "Oh calm down, he would totally say yes if you asked." Gina said.

"No!" Nini yelled.

"Oh come on Nini." Ashlyn said.

"No! And that's final." The bell rang right after she spoke. "Welp guess I better go to class bye!" Nini said as she ran off to class before the other girls could say anything else.

"You can't run forever!" Kourtney yelled after her.

"Watch me!" Nini yelled back. 

As the day went by, she only had her best friend on her mind. They had shared algebra, lunch, and PE together and she had caught herself wondering what it was like to possibly be kissed by him. Maybe Kourtney was onto something. She thinks he noticed that she had been acting awkward around him and knew he'd ask about it on their way back home.

On their ritual bike and skateboard ride back to her house to play, her predictions had been right. "What's eating you bubby?" He asked looking at her with a concerned face.

She shrugged. "Nothing, just a lot on my mind." She lied. She could tell he didn't believe her, and she hoped he'd just drop it, but he didn't.

"I know when you're lying. Just tell me what's up. Everything alright at home?"

She nodded. She was internally happy that he had cared enough to ask if she was happy in her house.

"Someone hurt you?"

She shook her head. "Then what's up?" He asked stopping his skateboard in the process. She had stopped peddling to look at him.

"It's stupid really." She admitted.

"Nothing you ever say is stupid to me."

"Well all my girlfriends have had their first kiss and I haven't. Now I think I'm behind or something. I don't know; it's so stupid. I told you." She said avoiding eye contact with him.

"I haven't had mine either." Ricky said resting his hand on her back for support. Kourtney's words began to resurface in her mind about Ricky. She blushed as she looked up at him. "You know what else they said?" She asked looking into his eyes.

"What?"

She gulped before answering. "They said that we should kiss. Isn't that crazy?"

There was a moment of silence that went on for what felt like an eternity but in reality was probably 10 seconds. "I mean...if you want to I'm down. Just to get it over with." Ricky said nervously.

"R-really?"

He shrugged. "Sure, why not? I mean as long as we still remain friends after this, then we should be okay. Plus, we kiss each other on the cheeks all the time platonically anyways."

She smiled and nodded. "I'm cool with that."

They stood in front of each other face to face. Ricky was only a few inches taller than her, so he had to bend his neck a little lower as they slowly came closer. Suddenly, they felt their lips touch and Nini could've sworn that she felt butterflies form in her stomach. 

She had heard a few stories about how people in love would feel this tickling sensation called butterflies in their tummies when they kissed. The girls hadn't said anything about feeling this way when they kissed, so she wondered why she felt it.

They had kissed for 7 seconds before pulling away. They both blushed as they looked at each other. "So how was that? Everything you were hoping for I hope." Ricky said.

She nodded and gave him a big smile. "It was a nice first kiss. I'm glad it was with someone I trust. What about you?"

"Yeah me too. Let's get going okay?" He said nervously.

When they were playing together as usual, she felt a shift in their relationship. She could tell that things wouldn't be exactly the same after this despite them still being best friends. 

She watched him as he played his guitar and sang lightly to "Tell me that you love me" from Victorious. He had avoided eye contact with her the entire time anytime he'd play any romantic song. Once she saw how tense he was, she made sure to not tell her girlfriends since they'd just tease him about it. His comfort was more important to her.

She decided to try to change the mood of the room and rested her hand on top of his which caused him to finally look at her. "Wanna get a milkshake? It's on me." She asked. He smiled brightly and just by the look of his face, she knew he was back to his normal self. "Race you to the door!" He said as he set his guitar down and ran out of the bedroom. 

She sat down her ukulele and began running. "Hey no fair!" 

***

_Eighth Grade 2016_

Nini didn't like her one bit, and no she wasn't jealous just...concerned.

They had gone to one of his skate competitions and he had won first place. There was a girl who also was in the competition and she had gotten second. Luckily, she wasn't a sore loser and greeted Ricky with a hand shake for his accomplishment.

Nini was about to approach him to congratulate him and go on their ritual to get a milkshake after he wins. She stopped in her tracks when the skater girl had beat her to it and began talking to him.

Nini had stood to the side as she waited for them to finish talking, but they had taken longer than she thought they would. She watched as the two of them were laughing and blushing as they spoke. The skater girl would occasionally find a way to touch him in some way, which Nini knew meant she was interested. She wonders if Ricky felt the same.

For some reason, she felt a weird feeling she had never felt before but couldn't put a name on it. It was like sadness mixed with resentment mixed with a dash of anger. It had been five minutes and she was getting impatient. She looked over at them to see if they were done yet and she saw them exchange numbers. Nini frowned as she watched.

They finally hugged and she waved as she walked away. Ricky waved back and searched the crowd for someone. Once he met eyes with Nini, he smiled and ran to her. "Nini can you believe it? I won!" He said as he picked her up and spun her. Nini gave him a fake smile and a brief hug.

"Yeah I saw." She said nonchalantly.

Ricky looked at her and could tell by her body language that she was upset. He rested his palm on her face. "Bubby what's wrong?" He said using the nickname to make her feel more comfortable.

She shrugged and folded her arms. "Who was that girl with you? She seems nice." Nini said trying to sound as chill as possible (she definitely was not). Ricky smirked.

"Awe are you jealous?" He began to tease.

She wasn't in the mood, so she rolled her eyes. "Shut up I am not, let's go." She said turning around and walking away. Ricky skated in front of her before she could walk any farther.

"Woah woah woah there tiger calm down. I was just joking. If you really wanna know, she is a fellow skater who shares a lot of things in common with me. We exchanged numbers so we can hang out sometime. That's it; there is nothing going on."

Nini huffed and folded her arms. "It's fine you're not entitled to tell me all of this. It's not my business anyways. Hey let's go get a milkshake okay?" She said trying to change the subject.

Ricky could tell she was in a pissy mood, but decided not to say anything. "Sure bubby."

Well it turns out that something was going on.

This skater girl who's name is apparently Max had been talking to Ricky a lot more after Nini and him got that milkshake. He slowly began to talk about her more and more as time went on, and she was starting to tell that he probably felt the same way for her. Her hunch was correct when he had confirmed on their ride home that he had started dating Max a month after meeting her.

She was happy that he was having a good time with his first girlfriend, but not so happy about him spending less and less time with her. Suddenly, another month went by and their ritual practice and rides after school had decreased to maybe three times a week. Ricky had explained to her that he had to spend more time with Max since she was his girlfriend, which she understood.

Even when they were together, he'd tend to talk about Max a lot, which she admitted she was not a fan of. She missed when they'd just talk about their day or what song they were gonna practice after school. He was so occupied with his girlfriend at another table, that he hadn't noticed the clear sadness in his best friend, however one of her friends did.

"Hey girl, how you been?" Kourtney asked as she sat by her friend at their lunchroom table.

Nini sighed sadly and rested her head on her friend's shoulder. "Not so well." She loved having a female best friend too because sometimes boys just didn't understand certain things like this.

"It's Ricky isn't it?" Kourtney asked already knowing the answer.

Nini nodded. "I miss my best friend Kourt. Don't get me wrong I'm happy for him, but geez this sucks."

Kourtney rubbed her friend's arm up and down. "Nini, I want you to be completely honest with me and yourself. Do you love Ricky as more than a friend?" Nini was thrown off by her question.

"W-what? Don't be ridiculous. I'm not in love with Ricky. That's my buddy." Nini said with a blush rising on her face.

Kourtney tried to calm her down before she made a scene. "Okay, okay if you say so. How about we leave so you don't have to sit here and watch them? We can sit in the theater with Gina, Ashlyn, and Carlos to get your mind off of him."

Nini took one last look at them a few tables away and wanted to just disappear when she saw him kiss Max on the temple like he used to do to her. As if he could tell she was looking, he averted his eyes to Nini and gave her a friendly smile and wave. Nini didn't wave back and got all of her things. "Yeah I like that idea." Kourtney escorted her out of the lunchroom as soon as she could into the hallway.

"Before we go I have to stop by my locker." Nini said.

Kourtney nodded and they walked there. As she was opening it, she saw a figure swiftly approaching her in the corner of her eye. "Hey Nini!" The familiar male voice yelled as he ran towards her. Nini's heart began beating louder as she watched him. "I'm gonna be in the theater when you're done talking. Just meet me there, and good luck." Kourtney said as she walked away.

Ricky stopped abruptly when he was facing her and smiled when he saw her. He was panting from being out of breath. "Woo I haven't ran like that in a while. I am parched! I think I'm getting old now." He joked.

She didn't laugh and continued to put her belongings back in her locker. "What do you want Ricky?" She asked with a monotone voice.

He immediately knew she was upset with him when she didn't even look at him when she asked a question. "Well I haven't spoken to you in what seems like forever. Just wanted to catch up."

She looked up at him with a glare. "Really? I didn't notice." She said sarcastically.

He gave her a confused look. "Wow okay, that was a little harsh bubby." He said trying to lighten the mood.

"Don't call me that." She said with a little anger in her voice. 

"What's wrong Nini? You're acting so...different."

That seemed to have lit a fire in her. "Me? Oh I'm the one who's acting funny?! No Ricky, you're the one who's different! You haven't actually spoken to me in weeks and we haven't been hanging out at all since you've been dating Max! Where were you?!"

Now he began to get angry too. "Look, I'm sorry that you feel that way, but what the hell am I supposed to do?! She is my girlfriend for crying out loud! So yeah, I'm gonna try to hang out with her a little more but that doesn't mean I'm different!"

Nini felt like she was gonna cry, but she refused to let him see her. For some reason, it hurt to hear him say girlfriend. 

"Well what're you doing here wasting time with me?! I'm clearly not important to your life anymore! Go be with your precious girlfriend!" Nini spat back.

"You know what? Maybe I will!" He retorted back.

"Fine!" She said slamming her locker.

"Fine!" He yelled back.

He turned away from her and began angrily walking away. When she noticed he was gone, she let herself cry.

They have never fought like that in their lives, so she didn't know how to deal with this. She wasn't even sure if that marked the end of their friendship forever or not which made her cry more. She was just happy that the hallway was empty. She was mad at him, but that didn't mean she didn't want him in her life.

It had been two weeks since their fight and they haven't spoken. Their parents and friends had taken notice of the absence of the other in their homes especially Nini's moms. They had asked if Ricky was coming over since they hadn't seen him in a month and if everything was okay. Nini would just push them off saying they were was fine and that he was just busy with other things. They of course didn't believe her, so they contacted Ricky's mother.

"Hey Carol and Dana, haven't spoken to you guys in a while. How are you?" Lynne asked.

"Well we're good, but we don't think Ricky and Nini are doing so hot. We were wondering if maybe you knew what was going on." Dana said.

"Hmm well Ricky does have this new girlfriend named Max who's been here a lot in the past few weeks, and I haven't seen Nini at my house or the skate competitions in a while either. Maybe it has to do with that." Lynne suggested.

Suddenly, everything became clear for the moms. "Thanks for all the help Lynne say hello to Mike for me. Have a nice day!" Dana said.

"You too bye bye!" Lynne said and hung up.

"Our poor little baby is heartbroken over a boy, but not just any boy, Ricky of all people." Dana said.

Carol nodded. "You know, I always knew they'd end up being more than just friends ever since I saw them in kindergarten."

"Hopefully they'll move past this."

Carol gave her a hug and a peck on the cheek. "Me too babe."

Nini was home alone on a rainy Friday night due to her parents attending a 21 plus wedding for the whole weekend. She had decided to be a couch potato and watch one of her favorite musicals, Grease, until she heard a banging on the door. She wasn't expecting any company, so she was skeptical about who it could be.

She grabbed a bat and peeked out of the peephole. She was shocked to see a soaking wet Ricky standing outside her door. She put the bat down and opened the door with a confused look on her face. 

"Ricky? What are you doing here?"

He looked skittish and was cold due to the rain. "Can I come in? It's pretty cold out here."

She opened the door wider for him so that he could enter.

Without asking, she got him a towel from under the sink and gave it to him. He gave her a nod as a thank you.

"What's up?"

"Are your moms home?" 

She shook her head. "They won't be back until Sunday." When he looked her in the eyes, he began to fall apart. 

"Nini, she broke up with me. I don't know what to do."

She was shocked by the news and immediately wrapped him into a hug despite him being wet. "Do you wanna talk about it?"

He wiped tears from his eyes as he rested his head in the crook of her neck. "Maybe later. Can we just chill for now like we used to?"

"Of course bubby."

She was satisfied when he gave her a crooked smile by the use of their nickname. Both of them haven't heard it in what seems like ages.

She led him to her room and gave him a change of clothes that he used to wear when he spent the night here. He had just left them there since he stayed over so much over the years. She turned on Victorious since she knew he loved that show as they cuddled in her bed. They had stayed there in comfortable silence until she felt his eyes on her. 

"Nini, I'm sorry."

She looked at him confused. "For what?"

"For ignoring you and blowing you off for her. I was so blind to love that I left my best friend in the dust. You didn't deserve that and I don't deserve your hospitality after the way I treated you. You're the only girl that matters to me. God I'm so sorry." He began to tear up afterwards. She wiped some of his tears away with her sleeve.

"It's okay Ricky. I wasn't exactly being the best friend I should've been. I should have respected that she would be spending more time with you, but I just missed you so damn much that I couldn't help but be upset that she was taking all of our time away. Don't take all of the blame." 

"I really don't deserve you." Ricky rested a palm on her face. She smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Yes, you do bubby."

They both had drifted off into sleep soon after their touching apology. What he failed to tell her was why she broke up with him. After Nini and Ricky's fight, Max had noticed that she was all he could talk about and realized that he loved her. He of course denied her accusation, but she broke it off anyways claiming that she didn't want to intervene.

***

_Sophomore year 2018_

Ricky had recently had very negative feelings about marriage.

Why you may ask? Because love seemed like it was a losing game after his mom announced that she planned on never returning from her trip to Chicago. She claimed it had nothing to do with him she just couldn't be around his father. What the hell was that supposed to mean?

Shouldn't he be flying to Chicago right now to win her back like they do at the end of all those rom coms Nini showed him? What kind of mother just takes off like that without warning her kid first? She had been absent from the house since the beginning of freshman year only making appearances every once in a while. She had stopped showing up all together the summer right before his sophomore year.

His friends were aware of his mom's absence and knew he was upset, but he couldn't open up to his other friends like Big Red or his skate buddies. Only one friend could help him cope with this, and her name was Nini.

Recently, he had stayed on weekends more often because anything was better than staying in that home with the sad realization that your mother isn't coming back. Carol and Dana were aware of the situation and would always give Mike updates on his son when he stayed over a long time.

It had become so frequent that he had his own room to stay in which was across from Nini's. He found that extremely convenient whenever he wanted to cuddle her and hang out so he can get his mind off of his situation. 

Today had been one of his worst days. It was 12:05 am on a cool Saturday in October. Ricky had woken up from a horrible nightmare involving his mother being taken away from him forever and his dad being a broken man for the rest of his miserable life and there was nothing he could do about it.

He had had nightmares like this before, but not at that level. He tried his best to go to sleep but realized he couldn't. He found himself gently knocking on Nini's door. He heard a quiet "come in" come out of her mouth and invited himself inside closing the door behind him. She yawned and stretched when he came in.

"Sorry to wake you." He apologized as he got into bed with her.

She naturally scooted closer until they were in spooning position. "It's fine. Is it a bad dream again?" He nodded. "It's gonna be okay bubby. One day they'll end." She reassured as she kissed his hand, which was intertwined with hers. He smiled already feeling better about his situation. 

"I can't live without you." He had whispered into her ear before he shortly fell asleep holding her tight so that she couldn't let go, but she didn't mind because she was all his. And she wasn't going anywhere.

***

Summer of 2019

Sophomore year was a dreadful year for both Ricky and Nini.

Ricky's parents had finalized the divorce and he only saw his mother when she FaceTimed him (which wasn't often) or on big holidays like Christmas where she would fly down and rent a hotel room since she didn't want to be around his dad. She also had a new boyfriend named Todd who wasn't a bad guy, but he tried way too hard to be a dad when he didn't need one.

Nini on the other hand had been stressed with a musical she and her musical friends did on Singin in the Rain. She ended up doing great, but Ricky could still recall some nights where Nini would stress so hard she'd break into tears. He'd have to cuddle her and have her watch her favorite movies to calm her down.

Nini had also broken up with her first ever boyfriend named EJ who had taken her phone without permission. He also lied about where it was when she asked if he had seen it. She was so angry he didn't trust her that she dumped him in front of the entire student body. It was one of the most amazing days Ricky can recall from that terrible year. Besides, EJ wasn't right for her anyways. No man could ever be good enough for someone like her.

Right now they had the whole house to themselves while Carol and Dana were gone for a week for their anniversary. Nini had already asked if Ricky could stay over, and of course they agreed since they trusted the boy fully.

It had been an average Saturday night for the two best friends. They had already came from their milkshake spot and played and wrote songs together. Nini had been the catalyst in this situation. They were cuddling as usual on her bed with her sitting on his lap and head resting on his torso while his arms were wrapped around her small body as his head rested on top of hers.

It was his turn to choose a movie, and he had surprisingly put on a romantic movie called One Day. He had said she had worn off on him and now he likes chick flicks. As much as she was enjoying the movie, she had been distracted by him for majority of it. Thankfully, he was oblivious to her wondering eyes.

She had known since 8th grade that her heart belonged to Ricky. However it took her a second to realize that she truly loved him until one particular day where they were playing their instruments and he had wrote a song about her and sang it to her. That's when she knew she was in love. She had only told Kourtney, and she swore to tell no one.

She was never blind to his attractiveness. She's always been a fan of curly headed brunettes with brown eyes. (She dated EJ cuz he was his opposite). He was also in the perfect height range for her since he was neither too short or too tall. He also had gained some muscle over the years that she had definitely noticed a while back. (She admits to occasionally finding a way to touch them without making it obvious). It didn't help that he was shirtless and only wearing boxers as they cuddled.

He also was basically the perfect soulmate for her. He knew everything about her and they shared almost all of the same interests. She was shocked it had taken her this long to even realize that there'd be no other man that could ever compare to him.

She didn't realize she was ogling him until he poked her face. She snapped out of it and blushed at being caught staring. "What're you staring at?"

She shrugged and didn't answer. She simply remained her eye contact with him and he did the same. She leaned up and kissed him on the cheek.

He smiled and rubbed the area. "What was that for?"

She shrugged. "No reason. Just felt like it." She couldn't stop finding a way to kiss him somewhere on his body throughout the entire movie. 

She kissed his hands, cheeks, forehead, and even some places on his collarbone. She pretended to not notice a quiet sigh he made when she kissed his lower neck. He looked at her with a smirk on his face. "Babe, why are you so kissy today?"

She blushed when he had called her babe. He has never done that before, and she was not ready for it. She decided to just shrug as a response and she sat up to rest her head on his left shoulder. She moved her hair to the other side so that he wouldn't get her hair in his mouth. She didn't even notice that she had spread her legs open where her legs lied on both sides of his. 

Now it was his turn to be distracted by her. Ricky has always found her beautiful ever since he saw her in kindergarten. As they got older, her beauty intensified. He was the most distracted by her choice of pajamas tonight. She had only worn a purple chemise that only went down in the front and back of her, but the slit had revealed her hips. It was obvious that she wasn't wearing underwear at all.

His hands were moving up and down on her abdomen making sure not to go too far up and graze her breast. Suddenly, he felt her hands grab his and guide it to her left breast. He silently gasped at the sensation of touching her there and began blushing. "Nini..." Is all he could get out.

"Ricky, are you okay with this?"

He thought about it for a moment before answering. They were really close friends and neither of them have been intimate with other people before. If he were to have his first sexual experience, he'd want it to be with someone he knew he loved. He looked down at her and nodded. She slowly moved his hand to her inner thigh. He could feel his heartbeat out of control as he let his fingers roam around between her legs.

When he grazed over her clit, she let out a blissful sigh. He decided to rub it with his thumb slowly over the chemise since she seemed to have liked that. His other hand was firmly grasping her left breast. She was leaning her head back on him with her eyes shut. She could feel him hardening between her legs.

He pushed the straps of her chemise off so that he could kiss her collarbone the same way she did earlier. "Mm Ricky." She moaned quietly. He moved her chemise to the side revealing her center to him. He couldn't keep his eyes off the sight of her since he had never seen one up close.

He decided to graze his finger along her slit, and he was thrilled that she had been wet from his touch. He rested his index near her entrance and looked down at her before entering. She looked up at him and nodded as a way of giving him permission. He slowly inched his finger into her.

She let out a semi-loud moan as he rubbed her clit with one hand while the other was inside her. "Do you like this?" He whispered into her ear.

She nodded due to her lack of being able to respond coherently. He continued to thrust slowly and after a while decided to add another digit. He felt her shaking on top of him and completely losing herself.

He suddenly had the urge to want a taste of her. "Hold up babe." He lifted her off of him and rested her on the bed. She looked at him confused as he crawled on top of her.

"What're you doing?" 

"I wanna try something." He began slowly moving down her body giving her kisses on the way down.

He stopped when his head was in between her legs with her legs wrapped around his shoulders. He rested his mouth on her, and she let out a loud sigh. He flicked his tongue on her bud in the area that he learned she liked when he was fingering her. She arched her back and rustled her hand through his hair. 

He moaned into her as he continued to taste her. There was nothing on earth that could compare to this flavor. "Ricky, come up here." She said breathlessly. He gave her a few more licks before crawling on top of her. "I want you." She said looking into his eyes.

He gave her a quick peck on the lips. "Then have me."

She pulled her chemise completely off as he pulled his boxers down and threw it to the floor.

He took a gander at her nude body and smiled. "You're so beautiful bubby." She blushed and brought him to her lips. This was their first time ever kissing from lust and desire for each other, and they both wondered why it took them so long to get to this point. They both were fighting for dominance with their tongues as they made out. 

She released first and began kissing all along his neck sucking harder on the more sensitive areas. She was careful where she left hickeys making sure they were in spots where only he could see them. She kissed all the way up to his ear and pressed a kiss at his temple. "I'm ready."

He looked at her and smiled lovingly. "Okay." He already knew what she was referring to.

He pulled her lower so that her entrance and his groin aligned. She wrapped her legs around his torso and they met eyes. He placed himself at her entrance and slowly inserted himself until he was fully inside of her. She put her fingernails into his back as he did. She felt a wave of pain and pleasure move all over her.

He looked at her pained expression and felt a little guilty. "Are you okay?"

She nodded and gave him a smile to make him feel better. "Yeah just move slow alright?"

He listened and began to thrust when she felt comfortable. After the first few minutes of slowly thrusting, he began to speed up his pace. 

They were fully hugging each other with her hand in his hair while the other hand was grasping his back. Her legs were wrapped around him fully and her head was resting on his shoulder. She moaned a little louder as he pushed himself more fiercely. "Nini, you're so damn perfect." He whispered into her ear. She blushed and gave him a peck on his neck. Soon after, he full on began pounding inside of her.

"Fuck..." She let out as they both moaned into each other's ear. She was in heaven as she felt him continuously hitting her g spot over and over again. "Mmm Nini." He moaned into her ear. She lifted her head off his shoulder and kissed him passionately. He felt himself on the brink of his orgasm, and was internally impressed with himself for even lasting this long as a virgin.

"Babe, I'm gonna cum soon." He said. She nodded and began kissing him again. A few thrust later, he pulled out and began jerking off on top of her. She watched as he came on her stomach. They both were left breathless by their encounter. "I'll go get a towel." He said. All she could do was nod because she forgot how to speak.

He came back and wiped himself and her stomach off before throwing it away. He rested on his back beside her. "Well that was...something."

She puffed air out of her nose. "Yes, yes it was."

"How'd I do?"

She smiled. "I can honestly say it was the best sex I've ever had." She joked.

he chuckled and nudged her. "So what exactly does this make us now?"

She shrugged. "I guess friends with benefits. How does that sound?"

"I like the sound of that."

They scooted close together and began cuddling. She had rested her body on top of his and he wrapped his arm around her body. 

"Sweet dreams bubby." He said kissing the top of her head.

She kissed his naked torso. "Goodnight Ricky."

***

_Junior year 2019_

If you would've told Ricky that he'd star in a high school play last year, he would have fell to the floor in laughter.

Nini had decided to audition for Gabriela Montez from the High School Musical series. When she found out that EJ planned on playing Troy, she had begged Ricky to audition since EJ had a huge possibility of getting the role. (EJ was the only one that looked like a jock that auditioned). 

It took a lot of convincing to even get him to say yes. Nini had to help him with his chores and homework for a month and she had to buy them milkshakes for two weeks. To her, anything was worth not kissing her ex boyfriend.

Turns out, Ricky had fit the role perfectly due to his charisma and beautiful voice (Nini was the only person who knew of his singing ability and was a little jealous that it wasn't their secret anymore). Ms. Jenn had claimed that the moment he ran in late for the audition, she knew he was the one because Troy Bolton was always late.

Nini was happy when she found out she was Gabriela and her other friends would be involved as major characters too. EJ was still unfortunately Ricky's understudy, but he was casted as Chad, so she was okay with that. 

After school, the duo would rehearse with the rest of the cast for two hours which exhausted them. They rarely went to get milkshakes anymore since they were busy with the play and schoolwork. He'd still come over as usual, but they'd end up just practicing their lines and songs for the musical.

Whenever one of them would get stressed out, the other would comfort them either in their traditional ways or on occasion be a sexual stress reliever. (They have both really liked the second option). 

Ricky would never joke about her being a theater nerd ever again after witnessing first hand what it's like to hustle for a show. There was so much to remember in such little time, however he did hate to admit that he's enjoyed every second of it. Maybe theater was his secret passion just like Troy.

But his favorite part about all of this was the fact that he got to spend even more time with his favorite person on earth. He had pretty much lived at her house at this point. His other friends always joke and say that he spends way too much time with her and that they never see him anymore. He couldn't even argue with them because he knew that deep down they were right.

When the opening day of the play premiered, it went by smoothly. Of course they weren't as amazing as the original cast, but no one expected them to be. They had received a standing ovation and the cast and crew had bowed when the curtains closed.

Ricky and Nini ran to his dressing room holding hands. He shut the door and locked it behind them when they entered. "I can't believe it! We did so good out there!" Nini said. He smiled and grabbed both of her hands in his. He loved seeing her this happy.

"Me too bubby. I was really shocked I didn't mess up any lines or songs to be honest. You of course were the best out of everyone there." 

She rolled her eyes and laughed. "Oh stop it, you were good too!"

"Victory milkshakes on me tonight?” 

She perked up. "It's a date!" 

They both embraced each other in a tight hug that neither wanted to end. They looked at each other and locked eyes. They knew exactly what the other was thinking when they looked at one another. She rested her palms on his face and pulled him into a loving kiss. He responded by wrapping his arms around her torso and pushing her closer to him.

When they stopped, he rested his head on hers and gave her a goofy smile. "I'll never get tired of that." He admitted. 

She giggled and gave him a quick peck on the lips. "And I'll never get tired of you."

They were about to have another kiss until they heard a knock on the door. He groaned and rested his head on her shoulder. 

"Of course someone knocks when a beautiful girl wants to kiss me." Ricky said as he opened the door. Nini smirked when she heard him call her beautiful. It was a few of Nini's friends who had come to congratulate them. 

"Sorry if we interrupted anything. We just wanted to know if you guys wanted to join us at Waffle House for a victory dinner." Gina said.

Ricky looked back at Nini to see what she said. "Uh sure why not?" Nini said.

"Great, we're all gonna get undressed and head that way in 15. See you there." Gina said as the rest of them walked away. Ricky closed the door and made a pouting face.

"Awe man, I was really looking forward to our milkshakes." He whined.

She laughed at his childishness. "It's okay, we could ease up on them anyways. We can go tomorrow to make up for it." That seemed to make him smile and he wrapped her in a hug and spun her. 

"You're the bestest friend a guy could ever have." She gave him a confused look. "I'm pretty sure bestest isn't a word bubby." He put a finger to her lips. "Shhh don't try to fight it." She laughed and gave him a kiss on the cheek. 

"Come on, let's get dressed I don't wanna be late. I'll see you in a bit." She walked out of his door.

He immediately missed her when she left. Recently he had been very drawn to her more than usual, and it wasn't because of the show. All he wants is her attention and affection and he loved to give her the same as much as he could.

After Waffle House, they had did their normal bike and skateboard ride back to her house except he didn't plan on staying over this time since his dad requested that he actually stay where he lives for the night. He still wanted to ensure that she got home safely though. He even walked her up to her doorstep.

"Ricky, you didn't have to do this. I'm perfectly capable of walking myself to my front door." He waved her off. "No, I insist. Gentleman must make sure their ladies get home safe." She laughed and pulled out her key. "Thank you, I had a great night Ricky." She gave him a radiant smile.

He grabbed her right hand and held it in his. "Good night bubby."

They stopped and stared into each other's eyes for a moment. He felt himself walking up to her and cupping her face. He watched as she closed her eyes knowing what was coming. He softly rested his lips on hers. The kiss ended just as fast as it started. He kissed her forehead and looked into her eyes.

"See you tomorrow." He said as he let go of her. He walked to the sidewalk and looked back at her to make sure she got in. He could've sworn he saw a glimpse of disappointment when he left in her eyes, or maybe it was just his imagination. He went home with an odd feeling in his heart. When he tried to go to sleep, all he could think about was Nini. As much as he tried to stop, he couldn't.

He thought about her smile, her pretty face, her cute laugh, the way she always makes him ten times happier when she's around, her legs wrapped around his torso as he pounded into her, and how she was so effortlessly perfect. He gasped when he had a sudden realization. It all made sense now.

"Oh my god, I'm in love Nini."

***

_Second semester Junior Year 2020_

It was a Friday afternoon when everything changed.

The duo had been playing guitar together after school and Ricky could not stop lovingly staring at her as he watched her play from the headboard of her bed. Once he realized last semester that he loved her, he had tried to tell her with actions instead of words. He'd do things like help her with her duties around the house and theater, fix her bike when the tire popped, and bought her feminine hygiene products when she ran out.

He was tired of holding his long kept secret. It was time to tell her whether that meant it'd help or hurt their relationship. "Nini, can you put the guitar down for a second please?"

She looked at him confused and worried. "What's wrong?" She asked resting the instrument on the side of her bed.

"Nothings wrong, I just need to talk to you." She crawled in front of him and held his hand. "What's up bubby?" She asked rubbing her thumb over his hand. He took a deep breath before telling her. This was it. Now or never.

"Nini, we've been friends for a very long time now, and we've been through a lot of things most people will never be able to do with each other. We've had a few fights, play dates, broken hearts, dinner dates, and we were even intimate with each other. I don't think I will ever find someone as amazing as you in my life. Basically, what I'm trying to tell you is, I love you. I think deep down I've always loved you it just took me a while to actually say it."

She began to tear up and she smiled brightly at him. "Oh my god, Ricky that was beautiful." He was glad she liked his words, but that wasn't the reply he wanted. "So how do you feel about me?" He asked nervously. He was internally praying to himself hoping she felt the same otherwise this would've been hella awkward for the both of them.

"Ricky, of course I love you. I've always loved you. I've loved you since we were in elementary school."

He made a toothy grin and pulled her body on top of his so that she was sitting on his lap. He grabbed her face and gave her a passionate and loving kiss. 

"I've been waiting to hear those words for a while now." 

She gave him a short yet loving kiss. "You have no idea."

They had spent the rest of the day in each other's arms and had decided to not inform their friends or relatives yet. They wanted to enjoy their alone time without people asking questions. 

When the night arrived, they had cuddled in her bed holding each other tight as if they were afraid that one would leave. They would always be by each other's side. He turned to look at her one more time before they fell asleep.

"I love you bubby." She smiled and pecked his lips. 

"You’re my everything Ricky."

***

_My eyes are looking for a soulmate but I never thought that my best friend will be my soulmate and that's the most precious gift I ever get._

**Author's Note:**

> Quote is from Quotehacks.com
> 
> Hope you liked it! ❤️


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